


FE: Wings of Courage

by Dragoncat (Dragoncat1991)



Series: WoC and related oneshots [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-15 01:56:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9213989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragoncat1991/pseuds/Dragoncat
Summary: Alternate sequel to Path of Radiance, but includes some nods to Radiant Dawn. What if "Mad King" Ashnard had left an heir who was raised as a common soldier? Meet a band of mercenaries led by twin wyvern riders and their cat shapeshifter adopted brother. Follow their adventures through the land of Tellius as the cogs of fate turn, history repeats itself, and the flames of the Fire Emblem burn once again.





	1. A Surprise Successor (Prologue)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for your interest in Wings of Courage! This story will contain both canon and original characters, but not all the OCs are mine. Before you read, please keep that in mind. The following list gives credit to the OC creators that aren't me. If an OC isn't listed, they're mine.
> 
> Jerec: Great Aether/Anacybele and Falchion1984 (he's got two creators!)  
> Keira: Snowy One  
> Kiyan: Mistdrake
> 
> Valmas and Xemar are a bit like Jerec, they were originally created by Seraphim Swordmaster for me to use when I was trying to make a fangame out of this story. Lost contact with Seraphim but the last time I talked to him he told me I could keep them. If by the slim chance he's reading this, long time no see, leave a review, you da real MVP.
> 
> Also, Fire Emblem is copyright to Intelligent Systems. I do not own it, even if I wish I did.

August 27, 645  
Nevassa, Daein  
  
A mighty roan stallion with a young woman on his back galloped through the street. If one were to get close enough, they would be able to see the determination and anger in the lady’s eyes. A steel sword was strapped to her back. She was pursuing a group of cavalry, they were all clothed in blood red armor, while her own armor was jet black.  
  
Daein had lost the war. King Ashnard was dead, and he hadn’t married or produced any heirs. Of course, the new Crimean queen wasn’t going to be in charge of both countries. Begnion controlled more land than anyone else, so why not add more to their empire? Nyra knew she had no right to argue. She was just a lowly soldier. General Petrine had always said she had the potential to be much more, but she, too, was now dead. And Begnion wouldn’t care anyway. But Nyra, being the hothead she was, wasn’t going to take this without a fight. She was going to show those red clad snobs who they were dealing with. And they would either kill her or throw her in jail for the rest of her life, but she didn’t care.  
  
She pulled back on the horse’s reins, causing him to skid to a stop, neigh, and rear. The Begnion cavalry appeared to be reporting to the halberdier ahead of them: an average sized man with dark purple hair. His armor was the distinctive red, with an olive green scarf. And he had an air of authority about him. No doubt about it, this was who the apostle had put in charge.  
  
One of the soldiers turned and spoke to the halberdier. “General Jarod, there’s a Daein cavalier here.”  
  
“I thought we told all of them to stay away while we get the paperwork settled.” Jarod huffed. “Go away. The war’s over. You lost.” Nyra stared at him, anger burning in her eyes. He smirked. “Such a fierce look for a little recruit!”  
  
“I’ll have you know that I am NOT a recruit. I was trained by, and served under, Petrine of the Four Riders.”  
  
“Ah, Petrine...she was a fiery one. But the key word is was. Go home, lass. We can’t have any Daein stragglers hanging around. Even if you did know that witch of a woman.”  
  
“Is that fancy lance just for show? It looks brand new. Did the apostle take a pampered noble, put him in armor, and call him general?” Nyra taunted. “I will not go home. If you want me to, you’ll have to force me.”  
  
Several Begnion soldiers raised their weapons. Jarod gave them the “stand down” gesture. “I will deal with this myself.” He grabbed his lance and gave it a twirl. “Try me!”  
  
The crowd scattered. Nyra brought her horse into a charge, blade drawn, as Jarod stood his ground. The steel sword clanged against the steel greatlance. The Begnion soldiers were rooting for their general, as was expected. Nyra managed to spot some Daein townspeople out of the corner of her eye. Most looked like they were just wondering what was going on, but she thought a few of them appeared to be impressed with her. As they should. Nobody else had the gumption to stand up to Begnion.  
  
This Jarod guy...who was he? She had never heard of him, and he had looked like he hadn’t seen much actual combat until she actually saw him fight. That jumping skill was unreal. He had to be clearing twice her height! And with a heavy weapon that should weigh him down! As impressive as it was, he was still her enemy. She concentrated on attempting to block his blows while slashing at him with her sword.  
  
“NYRA!”  
  
The familiar voice came from the group of townspeople. In one swift movement, Nyra stabbed Jarod in the shoulder, had her horse trample him to the ground, and turned. The crowd parted to let her mother through. Her mother, a frail skinny thing, had a piece of paper in her hands and was glaring at the scene in front of her. Behind her was an ancient looking woman who Nyra had never seen before, and a man she recognized as Lukall, a Daein noble.  
  
“Everyone, your attention please!” Lukall announced. “There’s been a recent development! Or a twenty-eight year old development, depending on how you look at it.” Nyra blinked. She was twenty-eight...  
  
Lukall proceeded to walk forward and look at Jarod, who was collapsed on the ground with several wounds. “He’s just out cold.” He said to the two women with him. “He won’t be able to protest now, but he will if we’re not quick enough. Lady Jaclyn, bring me the document.”  
  
Nyra’s mother handed the paper to Lukall. He turned to Nyra, and she reached for it. Lukall pulled it away. “Not so fast. The information in this document...will come as a shock to you. Fair warning.” Then he allowed Nyra to take it and unfold it.  
  
The paper was a birth certificate. Under name, in slightly faded writing, was Nyra Terricks Daein. That was a bit odd, Nyra’s mother was a noblewoman, but usually only royals had a second surname that they shared with their country. Place of birth was Nevassa, gender was female...under father, written in the same faded script, yet clear as day, was Ashnard Terricks Daein.    
  
“Breathe, girl!” Lukall waved a hand in front of Nyra’s face. At the same moment, Jarod coughed behind her and attempted to get up. Nyra whipped around and plunged her sword into his forehead. His eyes glazed over, and his final breath was a faint sputter.  
  
The old woman and Nyra’s mother both had the same blank expressions. She turned to them. “...But you always told me my father had died before I was born...how...”  
  
“Oh, is that what she told you?” The old woman hobbled forward. “...Pardon me, you don’t know me. My name is Melina. I delivered you...you can see my signature here.” She pointed at the bottom of the document, where the parents’ and midwife’s signatures went. The line for the father’s signature was blank.  
  
There was still quite the crowd gathered. Lukall took the birth certificate and held it in the air. “Citizens of Daein, we have a successor! I give you Queen Nyra!”  
  
A few of the Begnion soldiers, and even some of the Daein townspeople, had to look at the birth certificate with their own eyes to believe it. One Begnion soldier bowed his head to Nyra. “We will return to Begnion at once, Your Majesty. General Jarod will be laid to rest in his own homeland...”


	2. Mercenary Work

September 15, 650  
Whitefire Mercenary Fort, Crimea  
  
The wind blew across the rolling hills of the Crimean countryside as the sun rose, painting the sky a clear blue color. Nestled between the banks of a river and the windswept prairie was a medium sized fort with stables in the back. In the main room, four people were seated and eating a breakfast of eggs and bacon. Two of them were obviously twins, they both had red hair and green eyes, one was male and the other was female. Another young woman with dark green hair was also present. Also, there was a man with feline features: cat ears and a tail.  
  
A third young man with lavender hair walked down the hallway and into the room. The cat man flicked his tail. “Good morning, Amiel. How was your first night here?” The day before, the lavender haired priest had decided to join the group known as the Whitefire Mercenaries after they ran some bandits out of his hometown, Valurn. He was a welcome addition, they hadn’t had a healer before. Their resident magic wielder had nearly drowned in his own blood. Darcen owed Amiel his life.  
  
Amiel smiled and yawned. “Morning. I actually didn’t sleep all that great...can I have some of those eggs?”  
  
“Help yourself.” The female twin said. Amiel grabbed a plate of food and sat down, and the red haired woman spoke again. “What was so funny last night, anyway? I heard you and Darcen giggling like a couple of little schoolgirls.”  
  
“Oh, that was them?” Her brother chuckled. “I thought it was you two ladies.”  
  
“Hah...” Amiel’s face reddened. “There was this joke book...mostly had lame one liners in it, but for some odd reason things are funnier when you’re struggling to keep your eyes open. I kept waiting for him to go to bed but he wouldn’t. I ended up politely excusing myself at like midnight.”  
  
“Yeah, I don’t know how he does it either.” The cat, Samba, shrugged. “I have never seen a beorc do that before.” The continent of Tellius was home to two races: beorc and laguz. Laguz took the forms of animals in battle, beorc wielded weapons and magic.  
  
“No, it wasn’t us, Leo.” The green haired woman said with an eye roll. “I don’t own any joke books...don’t know about Cerai though, but staying up late reading funny books isn’t something I’d do.”  
  
“I’ve had a few joke books before...but yeah.” Cerai agreed. “Now...whose turn is it to wake up Mr. Sleepy Night Owl? His breakfast will get cold if we wait much longer.”  
  
“I’m up...” As if he were on cue, Darcen staggered down the hallway. His black hair was sticking out in every direction. The green haired woman snickered at the sight. He blinked. “Shut up, Freya. I know. You probably look like this when you first wake up too.” Darcen paused for a second, scanning the room, then added: “Where’s Kurt?”  
  
“I was wondering that myself.” Amiel commented. Indeed, their cavalier friend wasn’t present.  
  
“Left at sunrise.” Leo said between bites. “Said he was going for a quick ride. He fed the horse, and the wyverns. Nice of him.”  
  
“That it is.” Cerai nodded. “Blaze is a big garbage gut though, I hope he gave her enough for her liking...”  
  
“He didn’t eat first?” Amiel blinked.  
  
“He took an apple, but who knows whether it was for him or Stella.” Freya replied. “If that horse keeps getting apples every time she wants them, she’s going to look more like a big fat water buffalo.”  
  
The door opened, and a young rusty haired man dressed in cavalier armor stepped in. “Everybody get suited up, we’ve got a job.”  
  
September 15, 650  
Ohma, Crimea  
  
The farming village of Ohma wasn’t far from the Whitefires’ base. Kurt turned and spoke when the group was at the entrance. “We’re looking for a man named Brom. He’s...short, stocky, a bit plump. Brown hair.”  
  
A few of the houses appeared to be ransacked, but there was no sign of the villains who did it. A man holding a pitchfork approached the group. “Are you the mercenaries my dad hired?”  
  
The orange wyvern sniffed him, and he flinched. Cerai pulled her steed back. “It’s okay, she means you no harm. She does this whenever she meets somebody with a weapon...or what looks like one.”  
  
“I just got back from the fields, so I still have my pitchfork...I can put it away if it’s a problem.”  
  
“No, you’re fine.”  
  
“That’s good.” The young man smiled. “I know just about nothing about wyverns. I hear they’re just as loyal and friendly as horses, but they sure look scary. I wouldn’t want to get on one’s bad side.”  
  
The wyvern rider twins chuckled in unison. “That is true.” Leo said. “You said your dad hired us, is his name Brom by any chance?”  
  
“Yep, that’s him. My name is Ruben. I’m his oldest son. I can lead you to him.”  
  
Ruben led the group through the village. A few people stared wide eyed at the wyverns, and a few kids ran and hid behind their parents. Even Brom stiffened slightly when they reached him. He had been digging up potatoes. “I tell you what, I knew there would be wyverns, but I still get the heebee jeebees when I see them. Even after being around them during the war...”  
  
“You fought in the Mad King’s War?” Darcen’s eyes widened.  
  
“Well, I had armor and a lance. But yes, me and Nephenee were the two people from Ohma that got caught up in that...long story.” Brom paused to examine a potato. “Nephenee ran off a bit ago, full battle gear and everything. Said she was going to try to find where the bandits are holed up. We all figured she would need backup. The scoundrels went that direction.” He pointed at the village exit.  
  
“If you can fight, why are you not helping her?”  
  
Brom shivered at Freya’s question. “The truth is, I was never really on the front lines...those bandits are mighty tough. I think it’s a better idea to stay behind. I’ve got a wife and eight kids, wouldn’t do me any good to go out and get myself killed. Neph’s much younger and fitter, even if she does need more common sense...”  
  
“The longer we wait, the more likely she’ll get herself killed!” Ruben threw his arms in the air.  
  
“Okay, we’re on it.” Cerai hopped onto Blaze’s back and pulled the reins.  
  
September 15, 650  
East Ventar Plains, Crimea  
  
“Why did you bite your lip like you were trying not to laugh when Brom was talking?” Kurt led Stella to trot next to Samba, who was in cat form. A white wyvern and an orange one flew above.  
  
Samba’s whiskers flattened against his face, and his mouth twisted into a feline smirk. “Eight kids! You can’t say that’s not amusing. Beorc really do breed like rabbits...”  
  
“Just farmers.” Amiel butted in. “And to a lesser extent, civilians in general...if my dad hadn’t left, I might’ve gotten a few siblings...”  
  
“They have large families because they have a lot of work to do, everybody gets a job from the time they can walk.” Kurt said.  
  
Samba curled his tail. “I think Brom will be getting grandkids soon. Ruben acted like he cared more about this Nephenee girl than anything else! That is if he doesn’t already have some...if Ruben has an older sister or a twin sister it’s possible.”  
  
“I get the feeling he’s interested in her that way too, but it’s really none of our business.” Cerai flew closer to the ground, having heard enough of the conversation to add to it. A group of tents came into view. Also visible was a woman with long light green hair, who was desperately trying to stand her ground against three men with axes. She had a lance, and was wearing light armor.  
  
The woman tripped and did a face plant into a bush. Her lance nearly impaled her as she fell, landing in the bush beside her. One of the bandits raised his axe and prepared to deliver a killing blow. A dark blast whooshed toward him, and hit him in the chest with a loud boom, launching him backward and into his two friends. The resulting noise caught the attention of the rest of the nearby bandits, including what appeared to be the leader. He emerged from the tent in the center of the circle, holding a hand axe. “You idiots! I told you to just tie the wench up, now look, we’ve got her sellsword friends after us!”  
  
Judging from how she moved the lance like she was cutting wheat rather than bandits, the woman had to be Nephenee. She had gotten up out of the bushes and was obviously appreciating the help.  
  
After the bandits were all dead, Nephenee smiled and bowed. “Thank you very much, kind mercenaries. I don’t know what I was thinking...”  
  
“Obviously you were thinking you could take them by yourself.” Darcen said. “Bad idea. One against...” He paused to count the corpses. “Eleven, is suicide.”  
  
“I ain’t ever seen dark magic before. When I saw that and the wyverns, I knew you weren’t Ike and his crew. Was kinda disappointed at first, honestly. I’d been wondering how they’re doing. I traveled with them...”  
  
“As we were told.” Samba returned to human form and smiled.  
  
Nephenee gasped. “You’ve got a laguz too? Wow...”  
  
A pile of gold and valuables was found inside the leader’s tent. Nephenee scratched her head. “They took more than I thought. Probably gonna take all of us to bring it back. I can’t carry much, this lance is hard enough to carry around.”  
  
The white wyvern screeched softly. Nephenee jumped. Leo smiled. “I think Frostbite is saying he wants to carry it.” Sure enough, the entire heap fit into the pouch tied to the wyvern’s saddle.  
  
September 15, 650  
Ohma, Crimea  
  
Brom and Ruben were waiting at the village gates, along with a slim, slightly tall woman. The woman spoke. “Don’t you ever do that again, Nephenee! But I’m glad they brought you back in one piece...”  
  
Ruben stepped forward. “There’s some bread and ham and cheese at the market. Want to go there and put together some sandwiches for an early lunch? I know I’m hungry...”  
  
Nephenee nodded, thanked the Whitefires again, and left with Ruben. Brom smiled. “Good to see that son of mine being so helpful, and a good friend.”  
  
“You’re so dense sometimes...don’t you think maybe he sees her as more than a friend?”  
  
“Oh, Shelly...if he does, I wouldn’t mind one bit! She’s like family already anyway.” Brom smiled at his wife and chuckled softly.  
  
Leo blinked and opened the pouch that the stolen loot was in. “This is what the bandits took-”  
  
“Keep it.” Shelly said.  
  
“Are you sure?”  
  
Shelly nodded. “Consider it your pay.”  
  
“We came to that decision as a group.” Brom explained. “The whole town agreed to it, well, those of us who are old enough to have a say, that is...”  
  
“...Okay.” Leo smiled and climbed onto Frostbite. “If you need us again, please don’t hesitate!” With that, the Whitefires turned around and left.


	3. The General's Son

November 3, 650  
Nevassa, Daein  
  
Bit by bit, Queen Nyra was gathering information about her heritage. She had all the research material she would ever need in the royal library, but her father was rarely mentioned, so she had to fill in the blanks. This wasn’t surprising, considering Ashnard was the most recent king. Not much had been written about him yet.  
  
She had started at the oldest records she could find. Most of it was stuff she learned already in school, but occasionally she would find something she didn’t know. Her paternal granduncle, King Zachias, had died of a nasty sickness. The sickness could only be described as a plague. It killed a great amount of Daeins and as a result, the country was weakened and vulnerable. Her father wasn’t even next in line, but he ended up being the only one who was healthy enough to beat the plague and take the throne.  
  
But why was her true parentage kept a secret for all those years? Her mother wasn’t a peasant or anything, and there was no queen to hide the relationship from. Her mother always changed the subject when it was brought up, it was like trying to get information out of a two year old. Some elderly Daein nobles gave Nyra an answer, however. According to them, her mother had her eye on her father back when he was still a prince. Her maternal grandparents said he was trouble, but her mother didn’t believe them, and during her father’s coronation, they snuck out after the main event was over and nine months later, Nyra was born. Ashnard showed little to no interest in Jaclyn after that night of passion. Jaclyn hoped he would propose to her after he adjusted to being king, but he never did, and he even denied that Nyra was his. No wonder Nyra couldn’t get her mother to tell her that, she must still be feeling heartbroken and betrayed.  
  
Nobody was perfect. Ashnard was young at the time, with no plans for the future other than ruling Daein his way. A queen and an heir would just slow him down. Maybe he should’ve thought of that before he let his hormones take over, but it didn’t matter now. It happened, and Nyra was where she was meant to be.  
  
She was reading a book on war tactics when a castle guard opened the door and walked in. “Your highness, he has finally shown up. He has time to speak with you.”  
  
“He” was the only known relation to Daein’s Four Riders, the highest ranking generals in the country, who had all been either slain in the war or disappeared without a trace. Petrine had been Nyra’s mentor, she had been slain. The man known only as the Black Knight had been crushed by a crumbling tower. Lanvega had been missing for six years. Bryce had also been slain, but his son was still around. Nyra had began looking for the son nearly half a year ago. He was a traveling mercenary, and he spent most of his nights in inns. He never stayed in one place for long, so it was difficult to track him down.  
  
The guard left, and the son of Bryce strolled in. He had Bryce’s dark red hair, the family resemblance was there. Nyra didn’t know what color Bryce’s eyes were, but his son’s were a deep purple. He was wearing an outfit typical of a lance wielding soldier, only with a small cloak. He was also a head or two taller than she was. She had to stand on her tiptoes as he approached to look down on him, but then he bowed, making her feel awkward for trying to use height as a sign of authority. She nodded and lowered herself back down. “Sir Jerec, thank you for coming.”  
  
“Just Jerec would be fine, milady. I don’t care much for formalities.”  
  
Nyra blinked. “Well then...I assume you have some idea why you’re here. Your father was one of the Four Riders. I’m trying to find people to fill those positions, I have two already. Normally we try not to have rider successors be related  by blood to the former, but I’ll make an exception here because we’ve lost all of them.”  
  
“There’s a rumor floating around that says there was no sign of the Black Knight in the wreckage of that tower.” Jerec said. “No armor, no corpse, nothing. He might still be alive.”  
  
“If he is, he must not be interested. I haven’t seen him or heard from him. It’s just a rumor anyway.”  
  
Jerec nodded. “That’s true. So, you want me to carry the torch in my dad’s place, right? Who are the two you mentioned?”  
  
“I will take you to them. They should be in the castle training arena. Both of them are persistent with their combat practice.” Nyra moved toward the door, still keeping eye contact with Jerec. “It wouldn’t hurt for you to do the same once you get there...” She left the library and beckoned for him to follow. “You’ll have to keep moving and watch the sky.”  
  
Daein did have some pretty nasty snowstorms around this time of year...but what did that have to do with anything? Didn’t the arena have a roof? Those were the thoughts going through Jerec’s head as he followed Nyra. She allowed him to pick a practice lance out of the closet when they reached their destination.  It did have a roof...but now he understood why she said “watch the sky”. Both of the others appeared to be on wyverns, one black and one brown. But when he looked closer, the black one definitely wasn’t a wyvern...it had front legs whereas wyverns just had back legs, and there was no one on its back. Was that...a dragon laguz?  
  
His suspicion was confirmed when both swooped down and landed. The black one stood on its hind legs and transformed into a silver haired man. The dragon man looked at Jerec and smirked. “Is this the son of Rider Bryce? He looks...tacky and untrained. And I thought beorc in the military taught their young to fight...”  
  
“One more word and I’ll show you how wrong you are!” Jerec spat, pointing his lance at the silver haired black dragon. “Why are you even here? Go back to Goldoa!”  
  
Nyra stepped between them. “Stop! That’s an order. Xemar, that was an unnecessary comment. Jerec, my father worked with dragons. They’re powerful, and they make better allies than the flea ridden furballs of Gallia and the flying pests of Kilvas and Phoenicis. Xemar has proved himself worthy, so here he will stay.”  
  
After a brief awkward silence, Jerec shrugged and looked at the brown wyvern’s rider. The man was tall, blond, and looked like he was in his early forties. Jerec blinked. “...Valmas, right? I think I remember you.”  
  
“I remember you.” Valmas nodded, but kept his expression blank. “You were that little boy who almost made Terra too fat to fly by feeding her cake.” The wyvern screeched softly, as if she remembered.  
  
Nyra chuckled. “You already know each other I see...”  
  
“Yeah, he knew my father.” Jerec said. “Last time I saw him, I was ten. Him and his wife were expecting-” Valmas winced at that. Jerec frowned. “...Didn’t turn out well?”  
  
“Jaina had too many complications...she bled to death during the birth.” Valmas explained. “On top of that, my son...my little Connor...” And then he turned away and hung his head.  
  
“The whelp was dead on arrival, as the story goes.” Xemar said.  
  
“I’m really sorry to hear that.” Jerec didn’t know if he would be able to get along with Xemar at all. Were all dragon laguz that blunt and unsympathetic? He still wondered why the queen had put a foreigner in such an important position, but now wasn’t the time or place to ask.  
  
Valmas turned back to Jerec and patted his shoulder. “You’re a good young one. Your father raised you well, you know that?”  
  
“Lady Nyra, your highness, the papers.” A guard suddenly walked into the arena. “The royal council needs your signature.”  
  
“Oh, how long was I out?”  
  
“Two hours, milady.”  
  
Nyra nodded and walked out, leaving Jerec behind. Xemar transformed and unfurled his wings. “Okay, show me what you’ve got. Don’t worry, I know just to breathe out small static bolts...” Each type of dragon laguz had a different breath element. For black dragons, it was lightning.  
  
Jerec heard Valmas mutter something about the static bolts not being very small, but chose to ignore it. He raised his lance and prepared to charge. He was in the arena with two strong opponents, so why not get some practice in...


	4. Fire and Ice

November 28, 650  
Melior, Crimea  
  
While it was typical for it to be cold this time of year, usually Crimea’s neighbor got the big blizzards. But the cold front rolling down the mountains between Crimea and Daein had dropped more snow than Keira had ever seen in her life. Some of the drifts were as tall as horses, and the young woman and her parents had been snowed in for two days until the storm passed.  
  
“I suppose I won’t be getting that ice tome today.” Keira commented as she looked out the window. “There’s enough of it out there already.”  
  
Her father burst into a laugh. “Good thing you have that fire tome! Why don’t you go help the queen’s mages? Maybe they’ll pay you!”  
  
There were a few mages outside using fire magic to clear away the snow as people stood by to watch. Keira turned to her father, a blank expression on her face.  
  
“Rosso, they seem to be managing well enough on their own.” Keira’s mother said calmly. The woman looked almost nothing like her husband and daughter. She lacked the sea green colored hair, instead having blue hair that was long and wavy. Her eyes, however, had been passed down. Keira had gotten her mother’s light green eyes. Her father’s were gray.  
  
Rosso scowled. “Our girl’s got talent, Irene! I say she should use it!”  
  
“I’ll clear the snow from our property, but Mom’s right. They don’t need my help.” Keira put on her coat and boots, then walked out the door with the fire tome in her hand.  
  
She chose to start in the front yard. The royal mages hadn’t gotten this far into the residential area yet. They were getting close though, and judging from the sacks they carried, they were charging for the snow removal. Didn’t they get paid enough already? Keira found it hard to believe that Queen Elincia was letting them make this charity into a paid service.  
  
She could see Calill among them, who was hard to miss considering she wasn’t bundled up as much as the others. Wasn’t she cold? She was just wearing light robes, a scarf, and ear muffs. And she seemed to be barking orders more than actually melting the snow. Typical Calill...but if anybody didn’t need the extra cash, it was her. She owned a tavern for crying out loud. Surely that along with what she was paid by the queen would be enough to support her family. Her husband had been heavily wounded in the war, he couldn’t do much, so Calill was the main breadwinner. Rumor had it they were considering adopting a baby because they were having trouble conceiving one of their own.  
  
Keira turned her attention to the biggest snow drift in the yard and cast fire on it. The burst of flame melted a hole in the drift, but didn’t destroy it like the royal mages’ flames did.  
  
“I think you’ll need a more powerful fire tome, try elburn or arcsear.”  
  
She jumped and turned around, startled by the voice. The man looked about her age. He was wearing a hooded coat and fur lined boots, and his hands were in the coat pockets. His dark brown eyes gave off a friendly and intelligent vibe, and a few strands of black hair were sticking out from under the hood.  
  
“Pardon me, I didn’t mean to startle you. Sometimes I’m too helpful for my own good...” He shrugged and extended a hand in greeting. “Darcen of the Whitefire Mercenaries, at your service.”  
  
Keira shyly took his hand and shook it. “That group led by the twin wyvern riders and the laguz? I wasn’t aware they had a mage.”  
  
“Technically I’m a shaman, but yes. I’m their only tome user. You look a bit like the blacksmith we go to a lot...Rosso. Any relation?”  
  
“Yeah.” Keira nodded. “I’m his daughter. My name’s Keira.”  
  
Darcen smiled. “Well met. Is that Lady Calill over there? I think it is...she’s going to freeze her tail off.”  
  
“She’s not a laguz, but I know what you mean.”  
  
“Well if she was and had a tail, it would be frozen off!”  
  
Keira chuckled softly. “Well I hate to be rude, but I’m pretty sure my parents want this snow cleared. And if basic fire won’t do it, we have a bit of a problem. I’m not as skilled as those royal mages...”  
  
Darcen’s eyes twinkled as he removed a tome from his pockets. “Let’s see what dark magic will do. Stand back.”  
  
The dark blast collided with the snow drift, made a loud bang, and shattered it into small clumps. The clumps flew in the direction of the spell caster and buried him in a pile of snow. Keira jumped out of the way, but got splattered anyway.  
  
Darcen flailed, spitting snow, and grabbed Keira’s hand as she reached down to help him up. “That was...different.” He brushed himself off and shivered.  
  
“What tome was that?” Keira was trying not to laugh.  
  
“Noxfluo. It drains the target’s energy and gives it to the caster...of course it would throw the snow back at me. Pretty stupid of me. I broke the first rule of magic. Never play with it...”  
  
“THERE you are!”  An orange haired man on a black horse trotted up, followed by a cat laguz with a gray striped tail.  The laguz smirked. “You can play in the snow with this...random girl later. I thought you were above childish games, Darcen.”  
  
Darcen’s face reddened. “I wasn’t playing in the snow. Long story. And this ‘random girl’ is the blacksmith’s daughter, and a fellow mage.” He turned to Keira. “These are two of my companions. The cavalier is Kurt. And the nosy furball is Samba.”  
  
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Samba’s ears pricked. “Ah well...everyone’s done with their supply runs. Amiel had quite the confused look on his face when he looked up and saw you weren’t there. That’s what Leo told me. I wasn’t at the magic shop.”  
  
“He went there because he heard some guy talking about a magic sword.” Kurt explained. “Like the goddess blessed swords kinda...it makes a shockwave of wind magic. Cerai just went, ‘Okay, but don’t blow yourself up.’ Then come to find out the thing wasn’t even there, but it was at the weapon shop and somebody had already bought it by the time we got there. Freya was pretty ticked. She wanted it.”  
  
“Wait a second!” Keira ran after them as they tried to leave. “...Magic sword? Seriously?”  
  
Kurt pulled on Stella’s reins and stopped. “Yeah, apparently. To me it sounds like a hoax. The goddess blessed swords are magic because they’re, well, goddess blessed. Replicating that? Sounds just about impossible. Somebody’s going to be very disappointed with their new weapon and somebody’s going to be in trouble for false advertising.”  
  
Keira already had the idea in her head and the cavalier wasn’t going to convince her otherwise. “Thanks for the help with the snow! Got to go.” And then she ran back into the house while the three Whitefires left.


	5. Reunion

March 2, 651  
Daein/Hatari border  
  
“Ugh! For a petite beorc female, she sure is heavy!”  
  
“Watch it...don’t drop her.”  
  
Two laguz men, of the dog tribe of Hatari, were transporting a young beorc woman and a white horse. Dog laguz were similar to the beast laguz that lived in the forests of Gallia. Both tribes had tails and furry ears in human form, only the beast tribe was feline and the dog tribe was canine. The one leading the horse was tall and tanned, with dark gray hair, ears, and tail. He was wearing no shirt, so his laguz markings were clearly visible. The dog tribe had markings on their arms, while the beasts had them on their faces.  
  
“Are you sure she’s-” And then the young woman’s eyes flickered open. “Gah!” The one carrying the woman panicked, his black tail flattening between his legs as the woman hit the ground. The horse reared and neighed.  
  
The woman landed on her back, sending up a cloud of dust. She immediately began to yell and curse at the dog men. “Damn sub-human bandits! Why I oughta-”  
  
“We just saved you from the ‘sub-human bandits’." The black haired laguz interrupted. “Show some respect. Look at us, do we look like them?”  
  
The horse neighed again. “Albus! You’re safe!” The woman rejoiced. The horse whinnied and snorted. The taller laguz released his grip on the reins and the horse only had to take two steps to reach his master. The woman was clothed in light blue cavalier armor. She patted her horse’s muzzle and looked closer at the two laguz. “...You are dog laguz from Hatari.” She looked around frantically for her weapon and found it strapped to Albus. She grabbed the iron lance and held it in front of herself in a defensive posture.  
  
“Still don’t trust us, I see.” The gray dog man said. “But you fit the description of the daughter of the beorc who’s staying with Queen Nailah. Is your name Fiona?”  
  
The woman blinked and lowered her lance slightly. “...Yes. I am Fiona.”  
  
“Do you have a father named Lanvega?”  
  
Fiona’s eyes widened. “He disappeared years ago! You...found him?”  
  
“Technically our queen did.” Said the black dog man. He wasn’t shirtless like his companion, but he had short sleeves so some of his markings were visible. His skin was slightly less tanned. “She found him the same way we found you. Outnumbered by those ornery kitties who live in those old ruins. We thought they learned their lesson, but nope. I’m surprised King Caineghis hasn’t done something yet...they ARE his people.”  
  
“If you follow us, we’ll take you to him.” The other laguz said.  
  
The wet ground of the swamp was difficult to traverse for a horse, and it wasn’t easy for a beorc either. But the laguz, once shifted, waded through it with ease. At some points the puddles were deep enough that they had to swim. Fiona would go around the puddles, but the wolves just doggy paddled right through them. The gray wolf often stopped to allow Fiona to catch up. His black furred companion would run ahead, rarely stopping, until they reached a clearing. Several wolf, fox, and coyote laguz were getting their wounds treated. Some were shifted and some weren’t. In the center of it all was a regal looking wolf woman. Her ears pricked. “Volug, Kiyan. Who is this?”  
  
“Lady Nailah.” The gray wolf, Volug, had returned to human form. He bowed politely. “This beorc was being harassed by those thugs. We found out she’s Lanvega’s daughter.”  
  
“Is that so?” Nailah’s eyes twinkled. “I can see some resemblance...”  
  
Fiona stiffened as the Hatari queen moved too close for comfort and sniffed her. Albus whinnied nervously beside her, and she instinctively tightened her grip on the lance.  
  
“Your scent isn’t a complete match, but close enough.” Nailah said, backing away slightly. She turned to the black wolf. “Kiyan, take her to him. And shift back first, you know most shifted laguz all look the same to the average beorc.”  
  
“Yes Ma’am.” Kiyan obeyed his queen, raising to his hind legs and shimmering back into human form. Fiona left Albus with Queen Nailah. Although she had been taught that laguz were vicious monsters, the beast bandits had said something about horse meat being stringy and disgusting. And, she was starting to question what the Daein teachers had said, now that she had met some laguz who weren’t trying to kill her. Surely the horse would be safe...but if they laid a paw on him, they would be sorry.  
  
Kiyan led Fiona to a lean, middle aged, muscular beorc man with the same tanned skin tone as herself. With him was a regal looking bird laguz, long blond hair and pure white wings...a royal heron? The heron’s wings looked crippled...he didn’t look like he could fly, so how did he get here? Serenes Forest, the herons’ home, was miles away, and although the forest itself had been revived after the great fire, the herons still had a lot of recovering to do.  
  
“Fiona!” Lanvega ran forward and gave his daughter a hug.  
  
“I’m happy to see you too!” Fiona hugged back. “But Dad...you have some explaining to do! Why are you with these...laguz?” Kiyan turned around and went back, leaving the two beorc with the heron.  
   
Lanvega’s eyes narrowed. “Surely you’ve seen the beast bandits, right? I’ve been here since they almost killed me six years ago. Rafiel saved my life with his healing galdr.” He nodded toward the heron, who nodded back and produced a small smile.  
  
“It was unwise to return to Daein.” Lanvega continued. “In the middle of a war, it was safer to stay put. The Hatarians have been good to me. Well, not all of them, but that’s beside the point. We were actually making a trip to the border today, there I would find my way back home, and so would Rafiel with Queen Nailah’s help.”  
  
Lanvega shook Rafiel’s hand. “Good luck on your way to Serenes Forest. If you travel mainly at night, you should make it there without much trouble...”  
  
“Understood, I’ll relay that suggestion to Lady Nailah.”  
  
“I won’t forget your kindness. You’ve made me realize that there are both good and bad laguz, just like beorc, and for that, I thank you.”  
  
Lanvega and Fiona, after retrieving Albus, took a route back to Daein that went around the swamp, and far from the beast bandits’ stronghold. “A lot has changed.” Fiona told her father. “Daein...lost the war. Turned out King Ashnard had a secret daughter, can you believe that? She’s on the throne now and she’s rounding up the remnants of the Four Riders. Jerec has already been promoted to rider status. There’s also some newcomers, a wyvern lord named Valmas and, I kid you not, a dragon laguz named Xemar. Nobody knows what the latter’s doing outside of Goldoa. He won’t tell anybody.”  
  
“Remnants...Jerec?” Lanvega raised an eyebrow. “Bryce’s boy? I take it Bryce didn’t survive the war then.” Fiona nodded. “Knowing Jerec,” Lanvega continued, “He’ll curse his luck when he sees me. I can just hear him: ‘How come you got to keep your father and I lost mine?’”  
  
“He knows you were missing in action. I think he was hoping for your safe return too.” Fiona paused. “What will you do when we get there? Queen Nyra thinks you’re dead...”  
  
“The bigger question is, what were you doing out in the wilderness? Looking for me?”  
  
“Queen Nyra sent me. Those bandits stole a bunch of gold and valuables from Marado. She sent me and a small unit after them, but we were outnumbered and I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who made it out alive.”  
  
Lanvega wrinkled his brow. “Unfortunate.”  
  
“She doesn’t seem to know who I am.” Fiona said with a sigh. “She seems to think I’m just the one in charge there, there was no mention of anything related to the Four Riders from her. And Jerec was elsewhere, so he couldn’t help with that.”  
  
“Well, hopefully she’ll know me when she sees me and we’ll go from there.” Lanvega said. “Now, let me tell you about my experiences with the laguz in Hatari...”


	6. A Startling Discovery

April 10, 651  
Nevassa, Daein  
  
How unlucky could one guy be? Jerec had slept through the Rider meeting because the damn rooster kicked the bucket the night before. The thing was old and had a nasty attitude, but he relied on him to wake him up. He had been staying with some former Daein castle guards in Nevassa since Queen Nyra had named him a Rider. They had been kind enough to open their home for him, they were a sweet old couple, and they never had children for some reason, so they had started treating him like a son. All three of them overslept because of the rooster’s passing. The little old lady tried to convince her husband to get a new one, and her husband just said: “Why? We don’t have to get up early anymore, we’re retired.”  
  
Xemar and Valmas were in the castle courtyard when he got there. Xemar gave Jerec the stinkeye, and Jerec gave him it back. “The rooster died. Blame it, not me.”  
  
“You beorc and your reliance on stupid creatures.”  
  
“Cut him some slack, he’s been on time every other time.”  
  
Jerec nodded. “Thanks, Valmas. Now...was Her Highness mad at all?”  
  
“She waited longer than she should have in my opinion.” Valmas replied. “She looked a little annoyed, but that’s it.”  
  
“Neither of you seemed to notice how she’s been acting in these meetings. Jerec, she makes eye contact with you way too much. She’s probably annoyed you didn’t show up because she’s interested in you in more ways than one.”  
  
Valmas looked shocked. “What?”  
  
“You heard me.” Xemar shrugged. “I know how beorc at that age are, plus being queen...well, that would make it even more important to her. It’s not that hard to figure out. She’s trying to get his attention because she wants him as her king and the father of her future heir.”  
  
Jerec’s eyes nearly rolled out of his head. “Since when are you an expert on beorc politics and courtship? Those are assumptions. Nothing more. It’s common courtesy to make eye contact when speaking with someone about something important.”  
  
“Okay, this is getting nowhere fast, Xemar. We’re supposed to tell him what went on at that meeting. Not make ridiculous claims to try to get under his skin.”  
  
“I’m just saying, young adult beorc tend to have that on their mind a lot. You were there once, you should know!”  
  
Now it was Valmas’ turn to roll his eyes. “I’m taking him elsewhere and I’m going to fill him in. You won’t follow. Got it? Good.”  
  
The news made Jerec’s heart sink to the pit of his stomach. Nyra was after the Fire Emblem, a legendary bronze medallion that a dark god was sealed in. Her father, Ashnard, had started the war four years ago in an attempt to get his hands on it. He wanted to awaken the god and harness its power, remake the world so that power would override authority. The medallion was a dangerous thing. Very few people could touch it without being overwhelmed by its chaotic energy and literally going berserk. Jerec knew he wouldn’t be able to handle it. You had to have a special sort of serenity, which he definitely didn’t have. Neither did Nyra and certainly not her late father. Valmas said she was doing research to try to find a way to handle the medallion without negative side effects. But her reasoning for wanting to find it scared him. “My father was doing a good thing for the world.” She had apparently said. “Nature has always been survival of the fittest. Society has it all wrong, why allow the weak to prosper when they have nothing to offer? It’s time to take back our world! We will find that medallion, but first, we have to eliminate all who would stand in our way.”  
  
Valmas had quite the memory if he could memorize that speech and repeat it word for word. Impressive, but Jerec still had a bad feeling about this. No doubt who the queen would target first...the man he was thinking of could take care of himself in a fight, but he pictured an army at his door in the middle of the night, armed to the teeth and sent to kill...  
  
He would be a bad friend if he didn’t at least warn him.  
  
April 11, 651  
Talrega, Daein  
  
“Sleeping as usual, I see.” The long pink haired woman had been looking for her friend, and found him by the floodgates of Talrega, both him and his wyvern snoozing away. The floodgates held back the waters of both the Ribahn River and Shifu Swamp in the rainy season. During the war, when the Crimean army was passing through, General Petrine had ordered them opened with the intention of slowing the enemy down. The town could have been wiped out. Maybe it was a good thing Crimea won that battle.  
  
The man didn’t even flinch when she kicked him. She snapped her fingers in front of her steed’s muzzle to get his attention. The green wyvern had been interested in a nearby flock of robins looking for worms in the mud. His red eyed gaze turned to his rider, who pointed at their snoozing companions. “Camo, you know what to do. Wake!”  
  
The wyvern grabbed the man by his shirt collar and flung him into the air. He let out a loud whimper, then an oof when he landed, right on his own wyvern’s tail. The black wyvern screeched, then growled softly.  
  
“Jill, what in the...” His brown hair was in a mess, and his single eye, the one not covered by a patch, smoldered with annoyance. “What have I told you about doing that?!”  
  
“What have I told YOU about sleeping on duty? I swear to gods, Haar, sometimes you’re more trouble than you’re worth.”  
  
“I’m not on duty.” Haar replied. “Cristal is.”  
  
“You’re right, she is now. You’re lucky she was willing to take another shift! Today was supposed to be your day! Yesterday was hers.”  
  
Haar stared blankly. “...Oh, right. Sorry. It’s so hard keeping track of whose turn it is. But we haven’t had an attack in awhile, so I don’t see the point of constant guard duty. Well, I suppose there were those bandits last week...”  
  
“And you almost slept through that too!”  
  
“Not my fault they put me on the morning shift.”  
  
“It wouldn’t matter!” Jill snapped. “You sleep in the morning, evening, and in between. I think you get WAY too much sleep! But anyway...” She reached into the bag she was carrying and pulled out an envelope. “This is to go into Crimea. Greil Mercenaries. I can’t do it because I have mail going to Begnion. Last I checked, you have other mail going into Crimea. Can you handle that?”  
  
Haar blinked slowly. “Oh yeah, me and Somnus have a run to do tomorrow. No problem...Greil Mercenaries, huh...wonder how Ike’s doing. He’s a good young man. Talented too. Wonder how he got all the good luck. I can’t lead an army without getting my eye shot out, but him? No trouble at all. Must’ve got it from his old man. They say he was a general...”  
  
“If I had to guess,” Jill said with a smirk. “It’s because he’s nowhere near as lazy as you are. Now here’s the pay.” She handed him some coins.  
  
Haar counted the money and nodded. “Yep, this will do. Tomorrow I’m off first thing in the morning after breakfast.”  
  
Jill had a feeling he meant “first thing in the morning, after breakfast, and after a nap”. But despite his laziness, Haar was reliable with the mail. Mail carrying paid well, so that was a good thing.


	7. Trouble Brewing

April 12, 651  
Melior, Crimea

  
Cerai looked at the bags of supplies and scratched her head. She had failed to think this through. Blaze, her wyvern, was tied to a hitching pole a few blocks down. How was she going to get all these bags to her without killing herself? It wasn’t hard getting them out of the shop, but...

“Oh! Do you need help with those bags?” The voice startled her a little. Behind her was a blond man. He was dressed in typical civilian garb, but he looked way too fit...almost like he fought for a living. He had a companion too: a green haired man, same thing. Civilian clothing but looked more buff than average. Maybe these two were carpenters? Whatever, it didn’t matter. They had offered to help. She could use it.

“Sure, thanks.” She smiled and picked up one of the bags. The men picked up the rest, and the blond one looked at her and tilted his head. “I can get that one too.”

  
“There’s five bags, you’re each taking two. I think I can handle one.” Cerai hoisted the bag over her shoulders. “Follow me.”

She led them to where the orange scaled wyvern was tied up. Blaze screeched happily at the sight of her rider, but her blue eyes were fixed on the two men like she was wondering who they were and why they were here.

  
The green haired man put his bags down and blinked. “A wyvern? Are you from the air force?”

  
“Used to be.” Cerai replied. “Long story, but yes, I do have air force ties.” She started strapping the bags to Blaze.

  
“You’re too pretty for that, if you ask me.” The blond man said with a grin. “If the rest of your day is free after you get these bags home-”

  
“No thanks.” Cerai interrupted. “The rest of my day is NOT free.” That was a lie, but this guy was looking like a skirt chasing scoundrel. She didn’t want to waste time and energy dealing with him. She gave him her best “I’m serious, you don’t want to cross me” look and subtly reached for her lance, which was strapped to Blaze.

  
Luckily, it worked. The blond man backed off. “I see.” He said. “Have a safe trip back.” Cerai thanked them and took off into the air.

  
The two men watched her leave. The blond one sighed. “She’s gone. Curse my luck...”

  
“Maybe you should stop trying to make a move on every woman you meet. Or assuming helping a lady with bags entitles you to a dinner date.” His companion said. “...But I have to admit, she is kinda cute...”

  
“Agh, forget about it. We still have supplies of our own to get.”

  
April 12, 651  
Crimean skies

  
Blaze snorted and wobbled in the air. Cerai took one hand off the reins and scratched her behind the fleshy ruff on her head. “I know, these bags do weigh us down. Good thing most bandits can’t fly, right?” Blaze snorted again in response. “I say most bandits, because I know there are laguz bandits, but normally the bird tribes are in Begnion or at sea. The thugs we deal with are too stupid to learn to ride a horse, let alone a wyvern...”

  
She was talking to her like she could talk back. Some people might call that weird, but wyverns weren’t just dumb reptiles. Blaze might not understand every word, but she did understand some of it and she responded in her own way. She came to a sudden stop when a man on a black wyvern zoomed by right in front of them. Cerai shook her fist at him. “Watch it, asshole!” Blaze growled and flared out her face ruff, likely swearing at the black wyvern like Cerai had swore at the rider. But they were moving too fast to hear or notice.

  
Freya and Kurt were waiting outside the fort when Cerai arrived with the supplies. Kurt was brushing his horse, Stella. He looked up and smiled. “Did you get the apples?”

  
“Yeah, but some idiot cut me off and I had to stop real quickly, so if they’re bruised, I’m sorry.” Cerai began to remove the bags with her friends’ help. When they were done, Blaze snorted and walked away to take a nap.

  
The black mare whinnied and started sniffing one of the bags. Kurt patted her. “There’s no hiding treats from you.” He grabbed an apple and gave it to her. Stella whinnied again and started eating.

  
“You say some idiot cut you off?” Freya asked. “What did they look like?”

  
“Guy on a black wyvern.” Cerai said. “Didn’t see what the guy looked like. But the wyvern was black. Why?”

  
“I think the same guy dropped this off.” Freya removed an envelope from her pockets. “It’s addressed to the Greil Mercenaries. He must’ve confused us for them. He left before I could tell him his mistake.”

  
“Stella thought he was you.” Kurt added. “She heard the wing beats and came running like she knew I told you to get her treats. She had quite the long face when she didn’t see you.”

  
Freya smirked. “Kurt, horses ALWAYS have long faces.”

  
Cerai laughed, took the envelope, and looked at it. “If only we knew where their base was. Then we could give it to them.”

  
“It might be close.” Freya said. “I remember when I was with my parents and brother like a year ago, we passed through the area on the other side of the river, and there was a good sized fort. It didn’t look abandoned.” Her parents owned a merchant convoy. Her older brother was an archer and her father was a swordsman as well. Freya had joined the Whitefires to sharpen her own sword skills, and in return, her merchant family gave them discounts.

  
Cerai glanced at Blaze, who was napping under a tree. “We can try I guess, but I don’t think she’ll be happy if she has to get up and go again. Do you think you can lead Leo and maybe Samba there? I’ll stay here and unload the supplies.”

  
“I’ll help.” Kurt offered.

  
Freya nodded. “Sure, I’ll get my sword and some vulneraries.” When the Whitefires had to go somewhere, they normally went in armed groups of three in case they ran into bandits. The rest stayed behind to guard the fort. Cerai and Leo sometimes went into town alone since most bandits couldn’t fly. But anywhere else, they took a few others along.

  
April 12, 651

Crimean countryside

  
Freya led Leo and Samba to the riverbank. They had just passed a sign pointing them to the Greil Mercenaries, so they knew they were on the right track. “There should be a bridge somewhere around here.” Freya said. “But I don’t remember which way to go to find it.”

  
“I can go up and look for it.” Leo had been walking with Frostbite instead of flying. It was easier to keep track of his companions that way. The others nodded, and he flew up a short distance, about as high as a house, then came back down after a moment. “That way.” He pointed in the direction of the bridge.

  
But when they reached the bridge, Samba’s tail bristled. “Did you see any other bridges?” The bridge was old, rickety, and looked like it could fall apart. Leo shook his head sadly. “Unfortunately, no...I can just fly across, you guys be careful. I suggest one at a time.”

  
“Look at this.” Freya pointed at the wooden planks that made up the bridge. On the opposite side towards the middle, some of the planks were obviously newer. “Somebody’s been doing some repairs.”

  
“I wish they were repairing this side first.” Samba grumbled. “But it can’t be helped. Wish me luck.” He transformed, since claws and two more legs would be a big help if the bridge gave out. The bridge creaked a little, but he managed to reach the other side and shift back. Freya followed, and Leo crossed the river with one flying leap from Frostbite.

  
On the other side of the river, after a little more walking, a fort came into view. It was slightly bigger than the Whitefire base, but the stables were smaller, like they only contained horses and not wyverns too. Leo moved forward and knocked on the door.

  
The shutters on one of the windows opened just enough that a pair of red eyes was visible, glaring down at the visitors. Freya waved. “Is this where the Greil Mercenaries are? We have a message.”

  
“No.” The voice had an unfriendly, annoyed sounding tone. “They have never been here. They are...elsewhere.”

  
“Then why is there a sign on the other side of the river saying they’re close?” Leo walked over to the window. The shutters snapped shut.

  
“I told you, don’t send away salesmen until we know what they’re selling!” Another voice, and then the shutters opened again, this time showing a pair of blue eyes. “...You don’t look like salesmen.”

  
“Sorry to bother you.” Samba said. “We have a message for the Greil Mercenaries, if they’re not here, do you know where they are?”

  
The eyes in the window stared blankly. “You with the wyvern, is your name Leo by any chance?”

  
Leo blinked. “Yes...”

  
“Aha! Now I get it. You can come in.” The door opened. A tall, buff man with messy blue hair stepped out. He was wearing what looked like a battle tunic, there was no armor but it looked like it could easily be added. He also had a dark green tied headband. “Come on in, I’ll explain everything.”

  
A long black haired man gave them a death glare, then left the room. “Don’t mind him, he’s always grumpy.” The blue haired man showed the three visitors to an area with chairs. “Sit down.”

  
“...You’re Commander Ike, aren’t you?” Freya raised an eyebrow. “Why did your friend say you’ve never been here?”

  
“Believe it or not, that wasn’t just him trying to get rid of you.” Ike sat down on one of the chairs and spoke to his visitors like they were old friends of his. “We are...lying low at the moment. Our employer doesn’t want everybody and their uncle to know we’re still around. Which is why we’ve been removing the signs, but apparently we missed one. It’s also why you guys, the Whitefire Mercenaries, have been getting more jobs lately.”

  
“And you trust us with that information?” Samba’s eyes widened.

  
“Word on the street is that you have honor, and the bandit gangs either hate your guts or tremble in their boots when they hear your name. I think I can trust you.” Ike paused. “Everyone else is in Melior making grocery and supply runs. It’s just me and Soren. You said you had a message?”

  
“Um, yeah.” Leo took out the envelope and handed it to Ike. “Somebody delivered it to us instead of you.”

  
Ike tore open the envelope and unfolded the paper inside. He read it to himself, his eyes widening and seeming to flash. “...Fantastic.” He muttered under his breath. “Thanks for the warning, Jerec...but there’s trouble brewing here too.”

  
Samba’s ears flicked, and Ike remembered that laguz had stronger hearing. He probably heard that. Ike sighed. “The reason we’re undercover...there’s reports of a possible rebellion, a plan to overthrow the queen. It appears to...come from within the nobility. I’m not asking you to do anything to help. Keep doing what you’ve been doing, just keep your eyes and ears open and be prepared for something to go down. The Greil Mercenaries will handle things if they get to that point.”

  
With that, Ike sent them off.


	8. Together We Ride

May 1, 651  
Melior, Crimea

Rosso the blacksmith winced as he replaced the bandage on the burn on his leg. Having a magically inclined daughter was interesting and he was proud, but he had learned the hard way she wasn't entirely safe with the magic. Keira had been going on about magic infused weapons since the day after that big snowstorm, and when she finally got an idea of how to make one, she had convinced her father to start a fresh blade so she could cast fire on it. And it blew up and now Rosso had a nasty burn. Luckily the forge was made of fireproof stone...or else it would've been an even bigger disaster.

He had nearly exploded himself, yelling at her and he almost threw out all her magic tomes. His wife calmed him down and they decided that a better consequence would be forbidding her from going to the library for a week, which was probably where she got those ideas. Even though she was twenty, she lived under their roof still, so she had to follow their rules. Keira had felt extremely guilty, so she accepted that and apologized around ten times, swearing to be safer in the future.

She had a shaman friend now. Which was great, considering how shy she normally was. The young man was two years older than her and part of a band of mercenaries. It was fun to hear his stories. Rosso's favorite was the one where he distracted a bandit leader by blasting a tree where nobody seemed to be with dark magic, and the bandit went over there, and one of his wyvern rider friends swooped down like a bird of prey and finished him off. When he mentioned that there was blood everywhere, Rosso's wife Irene nearly got sick to her stomach. Keira just looked interested. She was his girl, no doubt about it.

The two of them were hanging around Rosso's shop at the moment, since their usual stomping ground was off limits for a few more days yet. Darcen came through the back door. "Keira told me why she's grounded from the library. I can have my friend Amiel see if his heal staff will do anything for that, if you want."

Rosso turned to him and shrugged. "Well, the burn cream seems to be clearing it up...but I suppose if you can have that arranged, sure." The bell at the front of the shop rang. He turned and walked toward the front to greet the customer.

The man was dressed in green mage robes, and had neatly combed black hair. Rosso blinked at the sight of him. "If you're looking for the magic shop, this isn't it. It's down the street to your right."

"No, I'm actually not. You're Rosso Stonton, Melior's finest blacksmith, right?" The man paused. "I know you're confused, you're wondering why a weather mage such as myself would be looking for a blacksmith. Allow me to explain. My name is Maraj Windsor. I work for Lord Ludveck of Felirae. Milord is short on mages. He's asked me to do some recruiting, and I hear your daughter is a talented young climate mage." Although all users of magic tomes could be refered to as "mages", only the users of fire, ice, wind, and thunder fit the term officially, with light users being "monks" and dark users being "shamans". The four other types were known as anima magic collectively, and further divided into "climate" and "weather".

Keira walked in just in time to hear that. "Why is he short on mages? And why does he need more in the first place? The war's over."

"Oh, you look older than I expected." Maraj produced a small smile. "That's a good thing..."

"Answer the questions." Darcen demanded.

"You look like a mage too! This must be my lucky day." Maraj said. "Well...put it this way. The queen has done nothing about Daein and their new queen. Lord Ludveck aims to do so himself."

"Why should she? Queen Nyra hasn't done anything worth doing anything about." Rosso rolled his eyes.

"YET." Maraj waved a hand in a "silence" gesture. "Queen Elincia is too trusting. We all know how cruel King Ashnard was...what makes you think his daughter will be any different?"

"She hasn't done anything bad." Rosso repeated.

"Like I said, not yet. Let's cut to the chase. If your daughter and her friend help Lord Ludveck, they'll get paid a good amount. I'll even mentor them a bit. Deal?"

Rosso turned to Keira, who stared blankly at Maraj's face. Darcen stepped forward, his deep brown eyes narrowed. "Hold on a second. You expect us to abandon all we've ever known, to work for a noble we've never met, to be mentored by a man we've also never met before now? On such little reasoning? I'm sorry, but that's just ridiculous. No matter how much the pay is."

Maraj glared back at him. "Well, that's your decision. I didn't come for just any young mage, I came for her." He pointed at Keira. "It won't matter if you come with her or not."

"He's right, though. I will not allow my daughter to go with you." Rosso growled. "Not even if she wants to." Turning to Keira, he added: "I'm sorry, but it's in your best interest."

"Don't worry Dad, I smell something fishy too." Keira whispered before turning to Maraj with a confident look on her face. "I appreciate the offer, but I'll have to refuse."

Maraj looked at all three faces before shrugging and hanging his head. "I see. Well, thank you for your time. Come to Felirae if you ever change your mind."

After he was gone, Rosso sighed. "I didn't trust that man. He looked slimy...real shame, it would be nice to get some extra funds from Keira's magic."

"I have an idea." Darcen perked up. "I remember my...bosses? Hard to call them that, they are, but they're more like my friends. They've both told me 'that mage friend' of mine is welcome to join the group. Only problem is the fort doesn't have a free bedroom..." He looked at Keira. "You can see if someone is willing to share, or bed down in storage...Cerai mentioned the stables but I'm pretty sure she was joking."

Rosso smiled. "I trust you, so I can accept that. Mercenary work pays well, right?"

"It depends. Sometimes we get a lot of jobs, sometimes we don't. Sometimes we end up having to hunt and gather for food." Darcen paused for a second. "Having a laguz around helps with that. They're natural born hunters and he can tell which plants are edible and which ones aren't by smelling them."

"It still boggles my mind to think of a cat laguz with wyvern rider adopted siblings." Rosso said.

"Yeah, it is quite the story." Darcen admitted. "But anyway, like I said, if you're concerned about earnings, they're not as steady as what you're used to."

Rosso scratched his chin. Keira looked at him. "Dad, I think I want to...I'm a little concerned about having to use magic on actual people, but I can get used to it."

"Oh, you've never fought before?" Darcen blinked.

"No, she hasn't. My wife used to be a traveling mage, she taught her everything she knows." Rosso lowered his voice. "Keep her safe, please."

Darcen nodded and turned to Keira. "Well if a fruit vendor's son like me can get used to battle, so can you. Just stay on your toes and keep your eyes peeled, and don't rush the enemy! Believe me...I know that from experience."

Keira grabbed her tomes and a week's worth of clothes from back at the house, meanwhile telling her mother about the plan. "Darcen is a good, talented boy." Her mother said, smiling. "If I were to let you go on adventures with anyone, it would be him. Stay safe and write often!"

"Thanks! I'll come back for the rest of my stuff next time I'm in town."

 

May 1, 651  
Whitefire Mercenary Fort, Crimea

As Keira and Darcen walked up to the door, a voice from a tree almost made Keira jump out of her skin. "Password?"

"Two things." Darcen looked up into the tree. "One, there is no password. Two, what is it with cats and sitting in trees?"

"You're no fun." Samba climbed down and stretched in typical feline fashion. "So! You've finally decided to join our merry band?" He tilted his head toward Keira, who nodded. "Great! I'll go get the twins."

Surprisingly, instead of shifting back and opening the door, Samba ran around the fort toward the back of it. Darcen and Keira almost had to sprint to keep up with him. "You'll get used to it." Darcen said. "Just about every time we go somewhere, we have his furry butt leading the way..."

"I thought laguz only switched forms to fight."

"Apparently not, right?"

"I guess so..."

Out back, two wyverns with riders were circling above. Samba pricked his ears and climbed the storage shed. "Hey! He's back."

The wyvern riders stopped circling and moved to opposite sides of the yard, then both flew at top speed toward each other until Cerai turned and flew back to her side. Leo let out a holler. "I win! You owe me twenty gold!"

"Hey!" Samba repeated. "I thought you guys grew out of playing Chicken!"

Both landed and dismounted. Samba got down from the shed and returned to human form. "We kind of did." Leo said with a smirk. "But she bet me twenty gold she could still beat me. And you saw how wrong she was."

Cerai punched her brother in the shoulder. "Okay, alright. I lose. I owe you money. Whoop de doo-oh hi Darcen. Hi...Keira? Is that right?"

"Yeah, you got it." Darcen said. Keira was fidgeting awkwardly beside him. He turned to her. "Go ahead."

Keira stepped forward. She had seen the twins before, but never with their wyverns this close. Both of the winged reptiles were eyeing her curiously. She could tell they were the same genders as their riders. According to the books in the library, male wyverns had bigger fleshy ruffs on the sides of their faces. Cerai's wyvern had blue eyes, Leo's had brown ones. Leo had a birthmark that Keira hadn't noticed before, a simple splotch below his left eye. And of course, they were both redheads with green eyes. Clearly siblings.

She put the box of clothes and tomes down on the ground. "I'm joining. I hear you're okay with that? But I'll have to share a room or something?"

"Yeah, another magic user wouldn't be a bad thing." Cerai smiled. "Nor another woman, we...have a bit of a sausage fest right now." She chuckled at Leo's blank stare. "Hey, it's true!"

"I didn't think you'd put it that way." Leo admitted. "Well, as far as the rooms go...I think Freya's is barely big enough for just her..."

"Neither of us have had roommates since the air force academy, I couldn't stand mine..." Cerai paused. "You won't constantly remind me to do dishes and never do it yourself, I assume? Well I suppose since the dishes are on a rolling schedule and everybody takes turns..."

Keira was about to reply, but Leo interrupted. "Oh, please. She couldn't have been worse than mine. Remember? He was a slob and just about once or twice a month, he'd lock me out and make me sleep in the hallway because his girlfriend from outside the school was over. I'd find my pillow and blankets out there!"

"Why would that be a reason to lock you out-oh." Samba's eyes widened. He was thinking: typical beorc and their hormones, but wasn't going to say it.

Cerai shrugged. "Anyway. There's an extra cot in storage, we can easily set it up in my room. Make yourself at home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter added since I transfered everything here, so therefore it's the first with notes. Hello, reader! 
> 
> Maraj is an actual boss from Radiant Dawn, anyone who's a fan can probably tell he's from part 2. Idk what chapter exactly, but it's the one with the cave and the torches. I did have to go on the FE wiki to find his name and appearance...


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